This blog focuses on news and information regarding practice in the federal courts in the Eastern District of California, with a special emphasis on criminal and civil rights cases.

Blog Author

John Balazs is an attorney in Sacramento, California, specializing in criminal defense, including appeals, habeas corpus, pardons, expungements, and civil forfeiture actions. After graduating from UCLA Law School in 1989, he clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. John was an Assistant Federal Defender in Fresno and Sacramento from 1992-2001. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in clinical trial advocacy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Please email EDCA items of interest to Balazslaw@gmail.com. Follow me on twitter @balazslaw.

Disclaimer

This blog is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. The law can change rapidly and information in this blog can become outdated. Do your own research or consult with an attorney.

class action lawsuits

March 28, 2017

A Hanford police report says Michael Valdez was riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street when officer Larry Leeds attempted to stop him.

What happened next is the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit in which Valdez, 49, and his attorney, Morgan Ricketts, accuse Leeds of using excessive force to arrest Valdez, actions that they say contributed to blinding him in one eye.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno last week, says Leeds used his patrol car to knock Valdez off his bicycle. The officer then punched Valdez several times in the face and The lawsuit accuses jail staff of repeatedly denying Valdez’s request for medical help, causing him to be permanently blind in his right eye. It also alleges that the Hanford Police Department and Kings County Jail destroyed evidence.

June 17, 2015

A California federal judge has granted class certification to a group of nonunion California civil servants challenging the Service Employees International Union's practice of deducting money for political activities from employees' wages unless they annually opt out.

U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb signed off May 22 on certification of a class of as many as 34,000 nonunion workers of the state of California, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc., which represents the plaintiffs, announced Wednesday.

January 30, 2015

A Pennsylvania law firm has filed nearly identical federal lawsuits against two central San Joaquin Valley food processors, saying they are violating wage-and-hour laws by not paying workers for on-site preparation like donning and doffing required sanitary gear.

Each lawsuit — one against Leprino Foods in Lemoore, the other against Wawona Frozen Foods in Clovis — has a lead plaintiff, but seeks class-action status. Jonathon Talavera, identified as a Lemoore resident, is the sole listed lead plaintiff in the Leprino suit. Luis Aguilar, identified as a Fresno County resident, is the plaintiff in the Wawona suit. Both suits were filed recently in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

February 06, 2014

Two of SEIU Local 1000’s arch foes have united to sue the 95,000-employee union in federal court. At issue: Whether the state’s opt-out system of paying union dues is legal.

Ken Hamidi, with help from the National Right to Work Foundation, filed the class-action complaint in Sacramento federal court on Friday. Hamidi, who works for the Franchise Tax Board, has for years tried to organize disgruntled state employees in SEIU into a separate bargaining unit. Hamidi also ran as a Libertarian candidate for governor during the 2003 recall election.

A federal class-action lawsuit was filed Monday against Gerawan Farming on behalf of current and former employees, who say the company has failed to pay minimum wage, overtime, and state-guaranteed paid rest breaks.

More than 20 employees gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Fresno Tuesday, including the two plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, Rafael Marquez Amaro and Jesus Alarcon Urzua.

Attorney Mario Martinez, who represents the workers, said the lawsuit was on behalf of thousands of Gerawan field workers who were paid by piece rate over the last four years. Workers said earnings vary since they are paid by piece rate, but it was often below minimum wage.

April 08, 2013

New Vitality , the maker of Super Beta Prostate, and quarterback Joe Theismann who endorses the supplement, are facing a consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleging that millions of customers were induced to buy a product that does nothing to remedy prostate troubles such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). . . . Floyd Luman v. New Vitality Corp. and Joe Theismann, Case No. 13-cv-656, California Eastern District Court, Sacramento.

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Acording to the lawsuit, "Defendants' marketing and promotion of Super Beta Prostate is an elaborate hoax involving a falsified medical endorsement by Dr. Jeffrey J. Zielinski, and false claims that the product will treat the symptoms of BPH. The product was created by Roger Mason, a convicted felon who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute PCP.

March 28, 2013

Chief Judge England ordered the City of Sacramento to pay attorney fees and expenses totaling almost $800,000 in the lawsuit over Sacramento's former policy of throwing away property of homeless persons, Lehr v. City of Sacramento, No. 2:07-CV-1565-MCE. Sacramento Bee, 3/27/13. Although significant, the award is much less than the $1.8 million in fees requested by plaintiffs' attorneys.

In Stutzman v. Armstrong, No. 13-CV-0116-MCE-KJN, a Class Action Complaint seeks monetary damages and equitable relief alleging fraud and other claims over Armstrong's Book, "It's Not about the Bike, My Journey Back To Life and Every Second Counts." Here's the News10 piece with a clip with former EDCA AUSA Bill Portanova:

Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Bill Portanova said lawsuits like this one are filed to prove a point.

"Sometimes they are filed because the bad guys who've been lying and cheating and make it all the way to the top deserve to be bothered," said Portanova. "Piling on a lawsuit, you shouldn't have any sympathy, have a guy who's been cheating. Whether or not this lawsuit will result in a payment coming back to anyone else is unlikely."

October 03, 2012

Residents of shelters, streets and cheap motels began collecting checks ranging from $400 to $750 Monday at the Loaves & Fishes homeless services complex on North C Street and other locations around town, while those with permanent addresses are getting their money in the mail.

The payments resolve an unusual class-action lawsuit charging that Sacramento police stomped on the constitutional rights of homeless people by grabbing their belongings and throwing them away without giving the owners a chance to get them back.

The resolution will cost the city $796,050 in payments to 1,143 people who lost personal property including tents, lanterns, prescription medications and family photographs, said civil rights attorney Mark Merin, who represented the winning plaintiffs. The city also will be responsible for "substantial" legal fees, he said.